Update: Category 5 Hurricane Rita - Live Thread, Part II

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Category 3 Hurricane Rita became the fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season during the night. Hurricane Rita threaded the needle through the Florida Straits and moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Storm damage in the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula was light, with scattered power outages, scattered tornados, and mild to moderate flooding.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Galveston County TX and New Orleans. Additional evacuation orders in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area are anticipated throughout the day.

Crude oil prices reacted as oil producers shut down and evacuated workers from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Rita Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[tuckrdout]

Okay, so what I want to know, that no one is talking about, is; are they evacuating the evacuees from the Astro dome? And if so, where to?

[myprecious]

unless you can prove you're bringing aid in to the Miss Gulf Coast (coming from LA), the Miss Hwy patrol is going to turn you away trying to run down I10

That is what I would expect. Thanks for the information.

I am in a safe area, but all Texans leaving need to head north and west.

[AppyPappy]

Freepmail is more efficient for this type of thing.

[EX52D]

Wow...great to see, send that one to Nagin.

[PAR35]

My husband is currently sitting on the causeway trying to evacuate his 94 year old aunt out of Galveston ~ he says it's pretty much at a stand still where he is now but he is planning to take 59 north.

Is the ferry still running?

[abb]

Yes - most of them sent to Ft. Chaffee, Ark, near Ft. Smith.

[jayef]

85,000 Acres!

[sheikdetailfeather]

A reporter in Galveston just told 540am here in Orlando that the original evacuees from New Orleans DO NO MIND BEING RELOCATED BECAUSE THEY KNOW ARE BEING TAKEN TO SAFETY this time. She also points out that TX evacuees are allowed to take their pets when they evacuate and this is crucial because pets are family members too and some in NO would not leave home without them.

[Pyro7480]

Look at the way these people are being treated! They are using school buses, when their human dignity calls for Greyhound buses! The horror!

[NautiNurse]

Ironically, the first request was sent via FReepmail. It was
either ignored, or not noticed...

[dirtboy]

Okay, so what I want to know, that no one is talking about, is; are they evacuating the evacuees from the Astro dome? And if so, where to?

They shipped those people out yesterday, I believed, to Arkansas.

[tcrlaf]

Here is a website that will update in about 40 Minutes with all of the CURRENT ship and Storm positins in the Gulf of Mexico!!

/www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml

I believe this is all Lloyd's covered ships in the area?

MANY Container ships are moving through the gulf right now...

[RDTF]

That's what (Steve Harvey?) actually said, and it wasn't during a comedy routine.

[Letitring]

OMG. This one will kill people too. Hope everyone gets out of the way. Our poor Country, just what we don't need, another major disaster.

[dirtboy]

Hey, DG - are they building a new causeway to Galveston?

[76834]

FYI
From another list I read:

Subject: Re: 6 horizons on 21(20)

In addition to the TRE equipment moving to the Houston area, Amtrak has been asked by FEMA to position two trainsets in the Houston/Galveston area too. Evacuee moves should begin on Thursday should storm track predictions deem it necessary.

Source:
Railspot
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/railspot/

[Rebelbase]

Can you believe the insensitivity of Galveston to be putting people on un-air-conditioned buses in the late summer in South Texas? And there's not bathrooms! The horror! Must be a Karl Rove plan.

/sarcasm

[bwteim]

Thanks for that summary.

[steveegg]

(In)AccuWeather on Fox pushing their contention that Rita's already a Cat5 based on pressure (IMHO, they're about 2 hours ahead of the curve).

[neutrality]

Even worse are the inevitable "Haha beat me/MSN to it!" replies